Meet Trailblazer Leslie Gonzales

Thanks for sharing your story with us Leslie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share my journey. Fearless Project started in 2016, even though, it did not come to life until January of 2018. At the beginning of 2016, my vision was different than what it is today. In fact, it was a venue that caters to gatherings, unifying people through causes and events in a unique new way. This may still be the case someday, if it permits. I stayed consistent with this detailed search until life happened, and I was laid off that June. At that moment, I realized how much I had made my company my security and my life. I had given myself to this company and yearned for the community once it was gone. My church, Hope City, is composed of small groups called Connect Groups. These groups are geared towards gatherings happening on a specific day of the week to either partake in an activity as a group or a study. It was at this point that my brother and I decided to start a group and realign our priorities, having a community at the very top of our list. It is here, where the birth of Fearless Project truly came alive.

In fact, my first gathering happened with the girls from my group. However, before it became Fearless Project, it was called Girls Night. In preparation for the night, I had written out Bible verses one by one, folded them, and placed them in a box. At the first meet-up, we all gathered at a popular coffee and dessert place. We all immediately started bonding over the desserts and our outfits. The night not only consisted of laughter but of tears and flow of encouragement throughout. It was this day that I saw the common thread. We all have our ups and our downs, but we do not realize that we are all just as flawed as the next person because these open discussions are not opportune. These meet-ups continued and went from dinners to movie nights to sleepovers to book clubs.

I do not know what experiences you have had with friendships growing up, but mine were not all pleasant memories. With the exception of my relationship with my family, and primarily with God, I was not always the girl that was wanted; I was the girl that was bullied for the majority of my life by other females. I felt as if my life was always going to consist of male friendships, despite my desire to be a part of more female friendships. However, if I were to truly reflect on these experiences, they did this out of a place of hurt. We are all hurting but choose where or on whom to place it. All of this to say that, at this point in my adult life, I was starting to get to know the opposite of what I had faced. Friendships with females no longer became something I feared, but something I wanted again.

The hardest thing for me during this journey was giving a name to the movement that I could feel stirring up within me and that was ready to come to life. It was the one thing standing between my dream and reality. In October of 2017 on a Saturday night, the birth of the name came to be. As my small group left the Greek Festival, we went to church. The message that night, spoken from a guest speaker, mentioned how fears paralyze us and keep us from moving forward or making connections with others. That night, I was restless and could not sleep. The word “Fearless” kept coming to mind and noticed it was the word I read most on my sermon notes. I remember turning on the light and opening my Bible to begin reading in search for whatever it was that was keeping me from sleep. As I kept reading there, I realized the transformation of King David, and how much he was seeking to become better. At that moment, the word “project” came to mind. I started to meditate on both words, Fearless and Project, which then led me to combine both words. We are called to live life fearlessly, and we are a working project to achieve this lifestyle. Excitedly, I texted a friend about the name, and it became the reality I was looking for.

The girls in my small group were encouraging and supportive of the movement, upon it being expressed. In reality, it was my faith and my support system that truly helped make this come to life. Not to mention, the tremendous support and love of Alyssa, Rin, Estefani, and Galilea. They believed in Fearless Project before it all unfolded, and were led to help with graphics, photos, and website building. From here, the rest is history. I transitioned my travel Instagram to Fearless Project, created a hashtag, announced it on social media platforms, and started planning the first official event inDecember of 2017 to be ready for January of 2018. The year of 2018 has been amazing, to say the least, and I am so EXCITED to see where and how it will all continue to grow! If you were not already aware, we even had a conference to celebrate the uniqueness of every woman and had a wise panel from various walks of life come to answer collective questions. There are so many more events to be discovered and to be unraveled with time, and I am excited to continue to be in awe of the fruit of these gatherings.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, but I never thought it would be. I took a chance to start Fearless Project because of how much it had begun to overcome my thoughts and how passionate I became. My faith has been the foundation of this organization, so I allowed this to be what led, push, and motivate me. At times, I would have what I would call a dream overload, where so many ideas would come to mind that even placing them on paper made no sense nor did I know how they would come to pass. To be honest, doing Fearless Project has grown my faith and has shown me how much this was needed in our city of Houston. My vision is to be inclusive, and not exclusive. I think of myself before I had a community and how I felt left out and alone. I know there are other women that still feel this way, and it is this thought that pushes me to continue month after month. I would not trade these hard times because it molds me. Not to mention, it shows me how much my church community is behind this movement and believes it is making a difference.

Every time I hear about an experience that someone had at an event, I become more humbled. Every story is a treasure to me, and I am truly in awe. One of the struggles I have undergone has been having so many ideas and attempting to make it work. Another has been location and dates. There have been months where I thought this was it, and then I would feel a tug to do it anyway and see how it will work. Fearless Project, if possible, is meant to be free in order to give any woman one less excuse to walk away from the community. At the moment, our platform has been Instagram and word of mouth. That being the case, it is hard to anticipate the number of women that will attend. All I can say is that if it has made it this far, it is because of the miracles and people feeling led to give a helping hand. As stated before, it has not been smooth, but I would not trade those moments because I know that it is for the people that are in need to know that they are not alone in their fears. My advice to any women wanting to start a journey, allow your why to be your motivation, and surround yourself with people that speak words of life and/or have been where you are going.

Alright – so let’s talk about your organization. Tell us about Fearless Project Co – what should we know?
Fearless Project is a way to bring unity to the women of Houston. This is a faith-based organization, but it is not exclusive to only Christian women. Much the same as getting a cup of coffee with a friend, these events are meant to be casual and authentic. We, women, truly are nurturers wanting to be loved, have fun, and be understood. What helps bring us together? Our fears. However, our fears also hold us back from us propelling into our purpose and callings. The purpose of every event is to expose a fear for what it is: a lie. This way, we can take the cat out of the bag, essentially, and let down our hair. After exposing the lie, we move into raw discussions as an open forum that results in minimizing the fear. After minimizing the lie, we speak the truth over the women. I want women to be fearless in life, not because they are supposed to be perfect, but because they have someone just as flawed as them having their back. The Fearless Project can also be defined by our motto: We believe that through encouragement and empowerment, we will be fearless. That is one thing that all women from all backgrounds can relate and brings us together. Our long-term goal is to aid women that are facing tremendous hardship caused by cancer, human trafficking, financial hardship due to terminal illness, and domestic abuse. This way, we can provide them with a mental and financial community of help that is faith-based. At the moment, we are starting with one woman, but we hope that someday, it will lead to more. This is truly a project, full of many ideas leading to unity amongst the women of Houston. What does Fearless Project look like at an event? Come and attend and find out for yourself! Be warned. Coming to these events will lead to more confidence, connections, and, dare I say, fearlessness. In the end, we all have fear, but my project is to create less of it.

Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
Ask yourself, “Who do I admire? Are they where I want to be?” If you answer yes to both questions, and it is someone that is reachable, go up and ask. If they say no, do not give up, and find someone else. It does not have to be someone that is in the public eye, but rather someone that has the qualities you seek, and wish to learn from. I have three mentors, and I can honestly say that it is the best decision I have made! They believe in my dream, push me, see failure as an opportunity, and tell me that they too have been there. As far as networking in general, the more you practice, the better you will get. Go to gatherings, such as Fearless Project’s monthly events, and make it your goal to meet someone new each time. The more you do, the easier it will become.